Alevis (in Turkey)

[From the Italian language press]:

Gli aleviti turchi. In Europa pochi li conoscono, eppure sono in molti.

Dal punto di vista statistico essi rappresentano una porzione importante della popolazione turca. In mancanza di dati ufficiali possiamo fare affidamento solamente su stime approssimative secondo le quali gli aleviti sarebbero circa 10-15 milioni su di una popolazione totale di circa 70.000.000.

Dal punto di vista etnico e linguistico essi sono per la maggior parte turchi ma è consistente la presenza di curdi, 15%-20%, e di rom.

Osservatorio sui Balcani, Italia - mercoledì primo agosto 2007 - di Fabio Salomoni

The Turkish Alevi. In Europe they are little known, nevertheless they are many.

From the statistical point of view they represent one important portion of the Turkish population. In lack of official data we can only rely on guesstimates by which the Alevis would be approximately 10-15 millions on a total population of approximately 70.000.000.

From the ethnic and linguistical point of view they are for the greater part Turkish with a consisting presence of Kurdish, 15%-20%, and of Rom.

The Alevis seem to represent a version of Islam peculiar to the historical vicissitudes and the cultural complexity of the Anatolian geographic space.

A peculiarity on the doctrinarian, ritual and sociological plan that is particularly highlighted in comparison with Sunni and Shi'a orthodoxy. A theology that insists on the religious experience understood as individual, inner search, and which shows tight ties with the mystical tradition of Sufism.

And it is precisely to a Darvish Saint, Hacıbektaş Veli, original of Khorasan -one of the cribs of Muslim mysticism- who lived in Anatolia during the 13° century, that goes the unconditioned devotion of the Turkish Alevi.

A devotion testified by the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who every year visit the shrine of the Saint.


[Further readings: http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismorders.html#Balkans
http://www.alevibektasi.org/xabiva.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alevi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bektashi]

[picture: Alevis in Turkey
This picture shows the Turkish provinces with a higher rate of Alevis (blue-levels) and other provinces inhabiting a lower rate (<10%)>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Alevis.png]